Wangumbaug Lake

{{Short description|Lake in Connecticut, US}}

{{Infobox body of water

| name = Wangumbaug Lake

| other_name = Coventry Lake

| location = Connecticut, US

| type = Glacial lake

| basin_countries = United States

| depth = {{convert|35|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| coordinates = {{Coord|41.773|-72.327|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_map = USA

| length = {{convert|1.8|mi|km|abbr=on}}

| area = {{convert|0.59|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}

| cities = Coventry, Connecticut

| shore = {{convert|5|mi|km|abbr=on}}

| image = North Cove, Lake Wangumbaug, So. Coventry, Conn (78858).jpg

}}

Wangumbaug Lake, also known as Coventry Lake, is a natural lake located in Coventry, Connecticut. It covers {{convert|378|acre|km2|abbr=on}} and is about {{convert|35|ft|m}} deep and {{convert|1.8|mi|km}} long with a circumference of {{convert|5|mi|km}}.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvnbxW81sDoC|title=Decisions on Geographic Names in the United States|publisher=Board on Geographic Names, United States Department of the Interior|year=1982|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=8|access-date=2021-04-11|via=Google Books}} Its watershed is {{convert|1,992|acre|km2|abbr=on}}, around 40% of which is residential and the rest farms and forest. The lake holds 2.7 billion gallons (10,220,000 m³) of water. It is fed by springs and has one natural outlet, Coventry Lake Brook, which flows southeast into the Willimantic River. Melt from a retreating glacier formed the lake 13,000 years ago.{{Cite web|title=Lake History & Facts {{!}} Coventry, CT - Official Website|url=https://www.coventryct.org/314/Lake-History-Facts|access-date=2021-04-11|website=www.coventryct.org}}

Wangumbaug means "Crooked Pond" in Algonquian. It was likely named by the Nipmuc, who settled the area before European contact.

The lake has been a popular summer vacation destination for boaters and bathers. Artists flocked to the summer cottages along the shores. In the early twentieth century, a trolley line connected the towns of Coventry and Willimantic, and Wangumbaug Lake became known as "Willimantic's summer resort." A pavilion known as the Lakeside Casino was a popular dance hall.{{Cite book| last=Jobbagy|first=Bill| url=https://www.coventryct.org/DocumentCenter/View/2578/A-History-of-Lakeside-Park|title=A History of Lakeside Park, South Coventry, Connecticut|year=2018|access-date=2021-04-11}}{{Cite book|last=Stave|first=Bruce|title=Mills and Meadows: A Pictorial History of Northeast Connecticut|publisher=Donning Co. Publishers|year=1991|location=Virginia Beach|pages=141–42}} Wangumbaug Lake is currently the home of the UConn Huskies rowing team, which shares its boathouse with the Edwin O. Smith High School crew team from nearby Mansfield.

A two-acre lake island, Underwood Island, is located 100 yards from Wangumbaug's shoreline. The village and census-designated place of Coventry Lake includes the lake and surrounding residential areas. The regional climate is hemiboreal.{{cite journal |last1= Peel|first1= M C|last2= Finlayson|first2= B L|title= Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification| url = https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00298818/file/hessd-4-439-2007.pdf |journal= Hydrology and Earth System Sciences|year= 2007|volume= 11|issue= 5|pages= 1633–1644|doi= 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007|access-date=30 January 2016|doi-access= free}}

{{climate chart | Wangumbaug Lake | -9| -2| 112 | -5| 1| 132 | -2| 8| 93 | 5| 18| 109 | 8| 22| 114 | 13| 22| 163 | 17| 23| 114 | 17| 25| 120 | 13| 21| 101 | 8| 15| 89 | 2| 8| 115 | -3| 2| 169 |float=left |clear=left |source = {{Cite web |url= http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/dataset_index.php|title= NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index|access-date = 30 January 2016 |publisher= NASA}} }}